Sheer Beauty
black mamba
Registered Users Posts: 8,323 Major grins
This is a 1938 Delahaye Type 135. Originally intended to be the 1939 Paris Auto Show car, the looming war caused the show to be canceled. This stunner was bodied by the noted French firm of Figoni & Falaschi. The interior leather was done by the famous Hermes of Paris company....the only time they outfitted a car. Postwar, it was owned and raced by the French driver Marcel Contet. A complete restoration in 2006 brought it back to its new delivery status
I always wanted to lie naked on a bearskin rug in front of a fireplace. Cracker Barrel didn't take kindly to it.
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Lovely car! #3 is sweet capture! Cheers Tom!!
Beautiful, nice shots Tom
The back reminds me of the 52 Jag XK120 Roadster that I once had (minus rumble seat)
Love these French classic cars - such beautiful lines. Great shots in spite of the throngs of people. I also appreciate that you told the interesting history of the car.
Good to hear from you, my friend. I haven't noticed a whole lot coming from your quarters lately. You hit a flat spot? It happens.
See you,
Tom
Rags, I bet you wish you had that car now. In my college days, one of my fraternity brothers had an XK150. When he needed a car with some backseat room, in case he got lucky, we would swap cars for the night.
See you,
Tom
Sara, I remember well your affinity for these French cars. There was a huge gaggle of them at this show. The throngs of people at these top shows are getting much harder to deal with. It's bad enough when you have no control of car placement, lighting, and the myriad of other considerations that come into play. I've actually scaled back some of my activities at these venues....I guess I'm getting a bit tired of the frustrations. I don't even bother anymore going to the shows where they park the cars right on top of each other, making it near impossible to get nice, clear full-car shots.
Take care,
Tom
Great shots and beautiful car, I keep looking in the image for Dirk Pitt.
John Cothron
Galleries: Smugmug|500px|Flickr
I appreciate the visit, John. I hear you.....Dirk Pitt indeed.
Hehe... I have to admit (rather proudly) that on a few occasions, I (we) hung my legs out.
But then, I had practice I had owned an 52 Alpha Sprint, 52 Porsche Club Racer, 60 AlphaGuileta (like in La Dolce a Vita) and a '60 Jag Coupe XK140...
Ahhh... those were the days...
Be well Tom...
Those indeed were the days, Rags. Judging from your roster of iron, It's obvious you went the " gentlemen's " route. I, on the other hand, was a street slugger....as hardcore a muscle-car fanatic as you'd find. I ran a '64 Pontiac GTO a lot at the strips ( eventually supercharging it ). I also ran a plum wicked '70 Chevelle that ended up being mostly a strip car. Throughout all that, my more personal use cars reflected the same mentality....the hell with cornering, who needs to stop, just put the straight-line magic on me and I'm in heaven. Thank God, you can be a gentlemen and a street slugger at the same time these days. Hallelujah!!!!
Stay safe,
Tom
"Gentleman's route?" I got there through muscle cars,,,
In the fifties I started going with a girl whose brother in law owned a auto junkyard (a candy store)
He was a great guy and let me have a few projects going at once; engine swaps & different cars plus there was never any residual debris after I finished.
I went Euro because I did a 360 on the side of a hill in my '57 Corvette trying to keep up with a Austin Healy in a rally in Indiana & I never looked back.
My favorite car now is a Honda Element (sleep in it in deserts and National Parks).
But for old times sake fun driving I have a Porsche Cayman (mid engine) that's very flickable.
And for really fun driving - I've had bikes since '68; just sold my last one about 2 months ago.
It's a pleasure talking to another car nut... I have found there aren't many around anymore
Take care Tom
Boy, Rags, in many ways our histories run parallel. I rode bikes for over 50 years....sold my last one about 3 years ago. It was a Yamaha FJR 1300. I took that thing on quite a number of long ( 2500 - 3000 miles ) trips before I decided that I had pushed the odds far enough and gave that scene up for good.
I've had a little experience with the Porsche world. In the mid to late '80s, a friend and I collaborated on buying and fixing up wrecked 911s. He owned and operated a first-rate restoration shop. I bought the cars, he repaired them, and we split the profit when we sold them. Under that scenario, I drove the repaired cars until I found a buyer for them. Over the time we played that game, I had at least one of them hanging around my place at all times. We ran nine 911s through our program until we both tired of fooling with it.
Prior to the Porsche period, in 1979 I bought a '77 Ferrari 308 GTB. A partner of mine had bought it new for a girlfriend to drive. When that relationship soured, he wanted to dump the car. I really didn't want it but the deal was too good to pass up. The car was a lousy daily-use vehicle so I didn't spend much time in it. But, brother, it sure did attract the ladies.
In my mellow years, I'm down to one pure-for-fun car. It's a VW Golf R. It came with 292 HP and a dual clutch auto trans. After some super tuning, along with new hardware ( new down pipe, a little intake and exhaust work, etc., etc. ) we've got it right at 400 HP at the wheels....probably close to 450 HP at the crank. Being an all-wheel drive car, the drive train sucks up a fair amount of power. This is probably going to be my last vehicle of this sort. My wife says that , at 75 years of age, I'm supposed to grow up. Can you imagine that.
See you, my friend,
Tom
Ha..ha.... You have to remind your bride that growing up is not a requirement of growing old.
I'm also a long distance biker; got the bug touring Europe in 70 & 71 on a Triumph & a BSA. Been cross country a few times (IBA trips); last time 3 years ago @ 75.
I'm hoping I can do it again at 80 in two years (God willing) I want to shoot some more Navajo lands that I missed.
I don't tell other friends of my plans - they may think I'm mentally unbalanced (might be true...
)
Take care Tom
POV in number 3 makes this set, Tom.
Lower would be even better
Hey, guy, it's always great to hear from you. I appreciate you taking the time to comment. I did take a lower perspective shot on that 3rd one but too many distractions had entered the scene so I didn't include it here.
Stay safe, my friend,
Tom